After Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, Americans suddenly discovered that the Chinese were so good.

2018-12-12 00:25:55 140 ℃

The Second World War brought major changes to the Chinese in the United States. In the decades before, the Chinese have been ravaged in the United States, especially in California, which was once the center of hostile Chinese in the United States. China first came to California with the gold rush, and later participated in the construction of the railway across the American continent, but the public sentiment quickly targeted the Chinese. (Chinese people don’t write “I am Chinese” badge on their clothes to distinguish them from Japanese.) In the 1970s, employment competition and economic depression caused Racial discrimination against Chinese, in the end in 1882 introduced the "Chinese Exclusion Act" against Chinese immigrants, suspended Chinese immigrants, can be said to be full of malicious. Chinese in the United States have to live in Chinatown and become a minority group surrounded and segregated by American society. On December 7, 1941, Japan changed all of this after attacking Pearl Harbor. (On December 15, 1941, the Chinese restaurant's female boss Ruth Lee hangs a flag on Miami Beach to avoid being mistaken for the Japanese) US Pacific Fleet Base Pearl Harbor After being attacked by the Japanese army, the United States’ views on China and the Chinese in the United States have changed. In the eyes of the Americans, China has also changed from the former "Sick Man of East Asia" to its important ally in the war against Japan. In the eyes of the Americans, the Chinese are no longer "infidels" but trustworthy friends. In 1943, a US congressman said: "If there is no Pearl Harbor incident on December 7, the United States may never know how good the Chinese are." (Chinese clothes say "I am Chinese, please don't be a person." Japanese") Affected by both fear and anger, the Chinese in the United States also tried to distinguish themselves from the Japanese as much as possible and proved that they won the war against the United States. It has an inseparable effect. A few days after the Pearl Harbor time, the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco began to issue Chinese identity cards. The Chinese in the United States also began to wear badges indicating their identity, which read the words "I am Chinese." In order to show the Chinese people's loyalty to the American society, anti-Japanese rhetoric and various fierce claims have also been published in Chinese journals in the United States. Although there was some pan-Asian unity at the time, it was by no means the mainstream. Because Japan’s aggression against China has already angered the Chinese, the patriotism of the Chinese in the United States and the strong desire of the Chinese to become American patriots in the American society have made them naturally stand with the Americans. With the exception of a few people, the Chinese community turned a blind eye to the US detention policy against Japanese. In fact, Chinese journals also made a lot of publicity about Japanese treason against the United States in the United States during this period or may help Japan. The Japanese were placed in detention camps and actually provided Chinese with an opportunity to improve their economic and social status. Chinese businessmen were able to enter and take over the previous Japanese companies. When the Japanese were dismissed from the farm by the Americans, the US Employment Service issued an appeal to replace the former Japanese with Chinese. The Second World War was an important opportunity for Chinese to gain economic and social status in mainstream American society. Of course, the change in the perception of Chinese people in the United States is also very important. However, when the end of the Second World War, the Americans’ closeness to the Chinese soon disappeared like a tide. Because the world soon entered the Cold War, Americans began to guard against the Chinese. Many of the rights granted to the Chinese in the Second World War due to the Japanese attack were quickly recovered.